The Project
by LaChoy
Summary: AU. The Project: Take care of an egg for a week as if it were your child. Problem? Yuuri Shibuya is paired with Wolfram Bielefeld, gay pretty boy with fangirls. Second problem? Wolfram is taking the project way too seriously. Eventual Yuuram.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou does not belong to me. Let's just get that out of the way.**

* * *

Yuuri Shibuya was very sure the entire world was _very_ messed up.

Like, for one, why did coffee have so many different flavors? What did half of them mean anyway? Did anybody want raspberries in their coffee? He sure as hell didn't. Sounded gross and made him wonder who thought of such an absurd idea anyway.

Or why did people want to dye their hair neon green? It made them look like a weird nuclear explosion! Or pink. Because, well, it was _pink_!

Why did people pierce their nipples?

Why did pens always go missing anyway? What was the point of stealing a pen?

He could have gone on and on about all the weirdness that existed in the world, but there was one thing that bugged him most.

How, in the name of sanity and all that was good, did homosexuality become a fad? Why was it trendy?

Why did they get more girls than actual straight guys did?!

They had girls hanging off their arms! Cooing out affectionate words and kisses on cheeks. It was unfair! Why give so much attention to a guy that found your breasts gross when some other guy out there would compliment them for hours?

And how was two guys kissing cute?! Two girls kissing was cute because girls were adorable, and pretty, and cute, and sexy…but men? Nothing was cute about men!

"You know, Shibuya, I think you're making too big a deal out of this," Murata answered, absent-mindedly chewing on a French fry during their lunch period.

"How?! It's unfair! Some guys pretend they're gay just to get close to a girl! That's just wrong on so many levels, Murata!"

"I don't know," his friend murmured. "I'd do it if I could get close to one of Wolfram's fan girls."

Yuuri decided to ignore that disturbing comment from his friend, and give a look over to the one that had made his biggest pet peeve come to life:

Wolfram Bielefeld.

One look at him and you could see why he was so popular with girls: he was extremely handsome. Blonde hair, green eyes, nice complexion. That sort of thing. Yuuri had always had a class with him for as long as he could remember, although they never really talked. They shared nothing in common and were on two very different sides of the social spectrum.

It was until puberty hit all around that he felt some grudge towards the blonde. It seemed every girl had made it their duty to try to have him date them. Every single girl. And every single guy seemed to hate him for that.

Then, as if somebody had decided to answer so many prayers, Wolfram had come out the closet. And it had really seemed like every guy's problem was over.

No, while some girls had cried at first, they had all gotten over it. He had even gotten _more_ fan girls, and that was where Yuuri just about lost his mind.

Girls claimed it made Wolfram cuter. Yuuri claimed it should have just made him _un_-cuter to the girls! After all, he could never appreciate them in the way they wanted to. It didn't seem to matter to them. Yuuri concluded right then and there the world was anything but right.

He didn't even dislike Wolfram, or any homosexuals for that matter, but he hated the entire situation and its absurdity.

"Maybe if he just got a boyfriend or something," Yuuri suggested, frowning as another girl leaned across to kiss Wolfram's cheek with a giggle. "Like, maybe they could see he'll never want any of them. Or something. I don't know…"

Murata shook his head. "Nope. Don't you understand, Shibuya? He'd become more popular. They'd see him holding hands with his boyfriend and squeal. They'd probably be asking for them to make out."

"Why?!"

"Well, according to all those boards on the internet I've seen, gay guys can also be hot."

"…What?"

"Yeah. See why I'm saying I'd pretend to be gay?"

"…Never. You're weird, Murata."

Murata only laughed, his glasses shining oddly in the light.

--

Home Economics was another useless class that Yuuri wished he'd never have to take. Unfortunately, he had forgotten all about signing up for classes the year before. And even more unfortunately, had found out it was too late to get out of any class. But weirdly enough, Murata had signed up for this class willingly. Even stranger, Wolfram Bielefeld had too.

While learning how to sew a button back on was actually pretty useful, Yuuri still could not see the point in learning how to make a stuffed animal had helped at all. Or why they had to relearn how to wash clothes. And what spoon to use for which soup. How was this information useful?

They had just finished cooking, and Mr. Kleist was promising something exciting. But if you asked Yuuri, he was just eccentric and his idea of exciting probably meant learning the Heimlich Maneuver or something equally as boring.

"Class! If you remember, I promised an exciting new course for Monday!"

The class droned some agreement.

"You will be put into couples!" Yuuri flinched at the word 'couple'. That just didn't sound good. It kind of gave him a bad feeling. "And you will take care of an egg for a week! It'll be like your own flesh and blood. No breaking it. If it breaks, you fail this project. Your partner will be just like your partner in parenting!"

They still did this sort of thing? Yuuri thought to himself in disbelief and horror. You only saw this stuff on television shows. He didn't think it actually existed.

"You have no choice in your partner." Okay, that bad feeling was spreading pretty quickly. "But you will have to make this partnership work the hardest you can." Oh, was it spreading.

"Hmm, maybe we'll get cute girls as partners, Shibuya," Murata whispered to Yuuri.

"Don't get your hopes too high," Yuuri advised sadly. He'd learn a while ago that when he had a bad feeling, it usually meant something and it was just better to listen to it. Maybe he'd get a really ugly girl. Or some really mean one.

"_Ohh, who do you think will get Wolfram?"_

"_Wouldn't it be so awesome if it was another guy?!"_

"_Oh! Oh! Yes! Another cute guy! Aww, wouldn't it be so sweet if Wolfram adopted a kid with another guy?"_

Two girls were talking behind him, loudly enough so he could hear all of their disturbing conversation. He was hoping almost evilly that the green-eyed blonde would just be paired up with a girl.

"_But it'd be so amazing to be paired up with him! He'd be so caring with a kid…gay guys just have that nurturing feeling…"_

Could this guy not lose?!

"Okay, okay. Ken Murata, you're paired up with Katsura Takahashi! Let your love protect this egg!"

"Score!" Murata grinned and flashed a win sign to his friend before going up to the teacher with his partner. Katsura was one of the prettiest girls in the school. Yuuri felt more than just a little envious.

As the names got tallied off, Yuuri could see that all the good-looking girls or the nice ones were being taken. He really was going to get a bad partner. That instinct had been right after all.

"_Oh, Wolfram still hasn't been paired up yet! And the only other guy left here is Shibuya…" _That girl murmured to herself, her friend gone to be replaced by her own egg partner. _"Maybe they'll get paired up…hmm…Shibuya isn't too bad looking…"_

Dread rose so far he didn't even notice the compliment the girl had unwittingly given him.

"Wolfram Bielefeld…"

Girl! Girl! Girl! Girl! Chanted Yuuri in his head desperately.

"Yuuri Shibuya! Partners! Let your love protect this egg!"

His head fell to his desk in a rather painful collision, effectively ignoring all the squeals that came from the girls in the room.

--

"Okay, since you couldn't be bothered to get our egg, I got it. Hmph. Some partnership, Shibuya."

He sounded so…so…

Snobby.

"I want to get a perfect grade on this project, so you better pull your own weight and help get me that perfect grade."

And domineering. Why did girls like him so much again?

Oh. Yeah. He was pretty and gay.

"Are you going to talk at all?!"

"Yeah, yeah. Calm down," Yuuri muttered, lifting his head to look at his…partner. "So, how exactly do you want to do this?"

"Well--"

"Bielefeld, Shibuya, what is your egg's name?" Mr. Kleist asked, coming to them with a clipboard in his hand.

"Hmm…Pochi," Yuuri answered off-handedly.

"Pochi?!" Wolfram shouted out in offense. "Our child will not be named Pochi!"

"'Our child'…?!" Yuuri repeated in horror, his face visibly paling.

"Liesel. Liesel Bielefeld is our child's name."

"Why does it take your last name? Why not mine? And if you ask me, Liesel sounds worse than Pochi. Pochi's a cute name!" Yuuri stated, trying to ignore the fact that that egg had been called his child again.

"My last name is just better. Plus, Liesel means dignified and elegant. The kind of name you want for a child."

"…It's an egg, Bielefeld. And Pochi is cuter."

"I think the name Liesel is wonderful," Mr. Kleist cut in, writing it down before Wolfram argued back. "Although Pochi is such an adorable name too. Good luck, you two. Let your love protect the egg!"

Why did he keep saying that? Eccentricity only excused you so far…

Wolfram was now looking at their egg rather determinedly. Why, Yuuri wasn't sure, but he was quickly learning that Wolfram didn't seem to know the term 'taking it easy' very well.

"Shibuya, do you have a marker?"

"Uh, sure," Yuuri mumbled, reaching into the bag next to him to pull one out. "Why?"

Instead of answering, the blonde just took the marker without any words and began drawing on the egg. Finishing it up, he showed it to Yuuri.

He had drawn a smiley face on it.

"There. Now it seems more like our child."

Yuuri blinked, brushing his hand through his dark hair absent-mindedly. "I'm not seeing how…"

"Hmph," Wolfram snorted. "Use your imagination. Now, since I want to get a perfect score, this egg will matter more than your own life. You got that?!"

"…It's an egg!" Yuuri cried out. "No egg is more important than my life!"

"It better be more important than your life, wimp!"

"…Wimp?! Why am I a wimp?!"

"You won't protect our child with your life! You're an obvious wimp!"

"But it's an _egg_!"

"It's our child!" Wolfram ground out, his emerald eyes glaring up a storm. "And if you are any kind of good husband and father, you will gladly sacrifice your life for your child!"

"H-husband! Husband?! Husband!" Yuuri found himself repeating the word over and over, it sounding stranger each time. "Since when am I your husband?!"

"Since Mr. Kleist paired us together for this project. Obviously, wimp."

"Don't call me that!"

"I'll call you what I want! You're my husband!"

"I'm not some possession! Or your husband!"

What was this guy's problem?

"You are and now, we're making a schedule. We will go to each other's house every other day. Today, you will go to mine. Tomorrow, I will go to yours. Our child will spend the night with me tonight, then tomorrow, you. You got that?"

"Sure, whatever," the dark-haired teen murmured, frowning. "But why? Why can't we just give to each other every morning when we get to school?"

"Children need a nurturing home life. They need to know their parents have a good relationship. Our child will have the best parenting we can offer," Wolfram explained, talking as if he was saying something as simple as the weather. Didn't he realize how completely insane he sounded?

And yet, even though he knew it would make no difference, Yuuri felt he just had to say it again.

"Bielefeld, you seriously know this is an egg, right? Not a real child?"

"Of course I know!"

"Okay, that's good…" Even though I don't think you do, Yuuri added on in his thoughts.

Wolfram gave a quick look of annoyance to his partner before haughtily looking away.

"Whatever, wimp." Oh no, the insult was sticking. What was it? Some kind of odd pet name? He did not want a pet name. What was wrong with just being called Shibuya or Yuuri? "Now, we need to set some rules for our child. I won't let anything wrong go with this project or our egg."

And oh no, things were just getting stranger and stranger. It hadn't seemed possible, but they really were.

"_If I look at them closely, I can really see some chemistry. Oh, Wolfram and Shibuya. Cute!"_

"_Izumi, can we please get back to our work…?"_

Somebody? Save me.

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**Notes:** The last two people talking are the girl that was fangirling over Wolfram, and her unfortunate partner that will have to hear her fangirl. He's nameless. Just call Unfortunate Sap #1. But please review! There will be some Yuuram action. I pinky promise.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Kyou Kara Maou does not belong to me. If you thought it did, get off the internet.

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"Okay, give me your number."

Yuuri blinked, looking at Wolfram strangely. That was kind of random. They had just walked out of the Home Ec. classroom, and then the blonde had just asked that.

"Uh, why?"

Wolfram sighed and pinned Yuuri with a look that was telling him it should have been completely obvious why he wanted his number.

"For Liesel! Give me your number in case of an emergency and our child needs your help. An emergency contact. Everybody needs emergency contacts."

He was getting sick of saying it. He really was. But if there was any chance Wolfram could just realize it, then he would just have to keep repeating it.

"Bielefeld, it's an egg. Eggs don't need emergency contacts. What kind of emergencies can an egg have?"

"It could break. That's an emergency. Now give me your number, wimp. I don't want to be late for my next class."

He muttered a quick 'don't call me that' before giving his number to Wolfram. Relieved that he left after he was given the number. But Yuuri did have to wonder.

When would he call? Why would he call? Yuuri hoped he wouldn't. Even if the project was a little dumb, it was still one he didn't want to fail. If Bielefeld called, the egg broke. Then he'd fail. Then he wondered how the blonde would handle it. Would he hold a funeral for their 'child'? Wearing a black suit as he mourned the loss of a project egg? Yuuri was reminded of those overdramatic women in shows, who wore black veils over their eyes as they sobbed into tissues. But then when the imagery of Wolfram Bielefeld dressed like that entered his mind, Yuuri decided his imagination needed to stop coming up with weird images.

"Kind of ironic."

With a scream, Yuuri jumped backwards before seeing it was only Murata. He let out a relieved breath and laughed a little.

"Man, you scared me. What'd you do? Come out of the shadows?" Murata only grinned, not really answering his question at all. "But what's ironic?"

"How you and Bielefeld became partners. It's kind of funny when you think about it. We were talking about him during lunch, and then look at you now. His egg partner," his friend explained. "It kind of sounds like some plot to a manga or anime. Like this is a twist of fate."

Even Yuuri could admit the entire thing was odd and he nodded as his friend spoke. "Yeah, and then this project? Taking care of an egg? What school still does this? I thought it was some overused story for a sitcom."

"Not to mention that every girl is noticing you now that you're Bielefeld's partner."

"Yeah, that too, I mean--wait! What?!"

With a point to a group of girls giggling at Yuuri, Murata explained further of the full irony facing his friend. "That. Girls never noticed you before. But now that you might be able to fulfill their fantasies, you're definitely a favorite."

Yuuri had to wonder how Murata seemed to know so much about these sort of things. His friend was smart, no doubt about that, but did his intelligence extend to weird things like homosexual fan girl trends?

And not to mention the world had gotten even stranger.

He began to walk to his class, frowning in a dejected way. "I'm getting to my next class. This conversation's starting to get too weird for me." _Just like a lot of things_, he added mentally.

--

Mr. Voltaire was the kind of teacher that was really boring, but you did not look away from in fear he would catch you, and glare you into a stone statue. It was this class that really wore Yuuri out. Making sure not to feel too tired and go off into daydream so he wouldn't suffer from Mr. Voltaire's scary face of discipline.

With the way his day had been going, the path his life just might have been taking, Yuuri shouldn't have been as shocked as he was when his cell phone rang. Right before wanting to beg for forgiveness, he wondered why he had kept it on and why had he brought it to class in the first place?

"Shibuya, your phone," Mr. Voltaire pointed out rather coldly. He never spoke more than he had to. Words shouldn't be wasted or something to that effect he had taught to them once.

"Ah, ah!" _Ring ring ring! _"Umm…" _Ring ring ring! _"You see…"

"Who is it."

This was not what he had been expecting from the teacher although he still did pull out his phone to look at the caller ID.

Seeing who it was, Yuuri wanted to just jump out the second story window right then and there.

"Who is it," Mr. Voltaire repeated, still sounding more as if he was making a statement than asking a question.

"…Wolfram Bielefeld," Yuuri answered, wondering what the extent of his suffering would be and if it wouldn't be nearly as bad as he was thinking. And did _another_ girl just point and giggle…?

But why was he calling?! During class?! Didn't he have class too?! And there was just no way that the egg could have broken that quickly. Not with the way Wolfram was obsessively handling the project. If it was going to break, it would at least take a day.

And why was Mr. Voltaire's eyebrow ticking like that?

"…Take it outside, Shibuya Yuuri. Now."

"Yes, sir! I mean, Mr. Voltaire!"

As soon as he got out into the hallway, he answered the phone.

"Bielefeld! What do you think you're doing calling me like that during class? Don't you have class too?!"

"Hmph, I have study hall," Wolfram answered with his usual haughtiness. "And I had to use the restroom." What normal teenager used the word restroom? Didn't most just say 'Hey, gotta go to the bathroom'? "I called because of our child--"

"Did it break?!" Yuuri nervously asked.

"No! Unlike you, wimp, I am actually careful with my child!"

"Don't call me that! And you haven't even seen me with the egg, so how do you know I'm not careful with it?"

"I'll call my partner whatever I want," came the reply from the phone, Wolfram seemingly ignoring the rather truthful fact that Yuuri had pointed out. "I called to tell you we need something to carry our child in. Liesel needs more comfort."

"What? Like a baby carrier?" He was mostly joking.

A girl that was walking by giggled. What was with girls and giggling?

"Good idea. We'll go shopping for one this afternoon."

"…What?" Yuuri questioned in disbelief, taking a moment to look at his phone with a face that was mixed with horror and pure confusion. Were they seriously going to buy a baby carrier for an egg? What was next, a crib?

"Maybe a crib as well…"

"Bielefeld, really, we don't need--"

"I'll be picking you up as soon as school ends."

"But--! Baseball--! Crib! Carrier…egg!"

The line was cut before Yuuri could ramble anymore.

--

Baseball was, very easily, one of Yuuri's favorite things in the world. Maybe number one in fact. He could remember being little, his mom rambling on about dresses, and him trying to ignore her because his favorite team had just gotten a homerun. He could remember the excitement of seeing his first real live game, and how the crowd cheering had made him scream right along. He could remember being amazed at the players, and realizing he wanted to be just like them.

He wanted to be a professional player. He knew it was a very unlikely thing to happen, so he settled for immersing himself in the game as much as he could. He would at least have that much, and even if it wasn't his dream exactly, it was still good enough and brought a smile to his face.

He had completely forgotten that he had practice that afternoon, mostly his brain trying to recover from all the other strange happenings, and making him forget other important things. He had realized some time after that he had baseball practice, and that he would just have to tell Bielefeld he was busy that afternoon.

But then Wolfram been waiting right outside his last class for him, cradling the egg in his hand in an all too 'caring parent' way.

"We're going shopping now," was all Wolfram had said.

"How'd you know what my last class was?" was all Yuuri could think of saying because seriously, how _did_ he know?

"I asked your friend Murata," came Wolfram's reply before he turned around. "Now, come on. We're going shopping."

"Sorry, I can't."

Wolfram turned back around, glaring, and Liesel's drawn on smiley face looking straight at him. "What do you mean you can't? You don't have any time for your child?"

"Yeah, something like that," Yuuri agreed, laughing sheepishly. "I'm really sorry, but I have baseball practice."

For a split second, he was a little afraid the blonde was going to start screaming if the angry glare that was on Wolfram's face meant anything. But he didn't.

"Your coach is Mr. Weller, right?"

"Uh, yeah?"

Wolfram nodded, and then, taking hold of Yuuri's wrist while still holding Liesel without any affection being lost, began to lead Yuuri away. "Okay, I'll go talk to him then."

"My things--!"

"We'll get them when we're done talking."

"But I need my baseball stuff!" Yuuri continued to protest, though finding that his captor had a very strong grip. He couldn't wrench his wrist away.

Wolfram didn't even seem to notice too much that there was a fight even being held. Not with the way he just said "You don't need your baseball stuff, wimp. You're not playing baseball."

"Okay, seriously. Don't call me that!"

There was no reply and Yuuri found it really was useless to fight back. It made his wrist sore, and he'd need it for baseball practice, which he _would_ go to!

"Conrad!" Wolfram shouted out as soon as they got to the field.

Who was Conrad?

Mr. Weller turned his head around, seeming a little confused until realization dawned on him. He smiled and came towards them.

Mr. Weller was possibly the best coach Yuuri had ever had. He was nice, patient, and had some very amazing baseball skills. He had almost made it to the minor leagues, and it always was a strange reminder he was now a high school coach and gym teacher. But he was a definite favorite of the girls. They always wanted to be in his class.

"Wolfram, in school, you know I'm supposed to be called Mr. Weller," Mr. Weller said first.

Why did he act as if he knew Wolfram? There was the possibility that they were teacher and student, but then why did Wolfram call him Conrad? Was that Mr. Weller's first name or something? It seemed the only logical explanation.

If he did call a teacher by his first name, then even Yuuri felt just a little shocked by this level of impoliteness from the blonde. That was just pushing the boundaries it a bit too far, and he hadn't imagined he'd be so rude. Although, he was reminded by how he'd been called during class, pulled around, told he couldn't go to baseball practice, and then he was always calling him wimp…maybe it wasn't too farfetched for Wolfram Bielefeld to call a teacher by his first name after all.

"Hmph," Wolfram snorted, finally letting go of Yuuri's wrist to put it on his hip. "I'm not your student, and it's after school, I can call you whatever I want."

Mr. Weller only shook his head, seeming amused. "No, Wolfram, the school day officially ends at four. It is only two-thirty. Though, I have to ask, why do you have an egg with a smiley face in your hand? And why is--Oh, hello, Yuuri."

Yuuri offered a small wave and smile, happy he was noticed at last. He had begun to wonder if he'd gone invisible from the weird, very familial, conversation happening right in from of him.

"This is the child Shibuya and I are taking care of. Liesel Bielefeld. I'm thinking a middle name might be nice."

"It doesn't even need a last name," Yuuri muttered to the side, nobody really hearing him. "It's an egg, after all…"

"Child?" Mr. Weller parroted.

"Günter assigned us to take care of an egg as a child," Wolfram explained and Yuuri wondered who Günter was before he figured out that Günter had to be Mr. Kleist. But then how could Wolfram had known that? "Which is what I need to talk to you about. Shibuya and I are partners. He can't come to baseball practice, Conrad--"

"Mr. Weller."

"--because he needs to come with me to go shopping for a baby carrier and crib."

"Eggs don't really need carriers and cribs either," Yuuri said, still not really being heard.

"So he has to miss baseball practice, to go baby shopping?" asked Mr. Weller, still smiling in what seemed to be a controlled way so he wouldn't end up laughing.

"Exactly."

Yuuri sighed at the pure insanity of it all. Mr. Weller would say no. He understood how important practicing was, and they had that game coming up and everything. Mr. Weller would definitely

"Well, alright then."

"What?!" Yuuri screamed, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open. A few of his teammates looked over at him. "B-but!"

"Sorry, Yuuri," Mr. Weller apologized, although the smile that did not seem to be disappearing anytime soon didn't help him much. "But I just can't argue with my brother when he gets this way."

"Brother?!"

"_Half _brother," Wolfram corrected. "Don't forget that part."

"Yes, half brothers," Mr. Weller agreed, but it was obvious he only said it to appease his brother. Yuuri's mind was still reeling in shock.

They didn't even look anything alike!

"Come on, wimp."

He was pulled too quickly to even argue that horrible pet name, Conrad waving good-bye.

* * *

So...34 reviews? Just...whoa. I did not expect this kind of turn out. Thank you! And I have to wonder, what do you think will happen to poor Liesel? Will it break? Will it survive? WILL IT HATCH INTO A CHICK? No. No it will not hatch into a chick! Though it would be cool. I already know the ending and Liesel's fate, but I am not saying a word.

**Next chapter:** Shopping for an egg! Jennifer wonders over grandchildren. Wolfram has a big house. Mr. Voltaire and Mr. Kleist?! A famous model too?! WHAAAAAAT? And why are there so many swords in Wolfram's room? Will Yuuri's life ever be normal again? We all know the answer to that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou doesn't belong to me, don't sue, I'm poor, blah blah blah.**

* * *

"How is Mr. Weller your brother?!" was the first thing Yuuri demanded to know. "I mean, he doesn't even look anything like you!"

They were going…somewhere. Yuuri wasn't very sure. Maybe to the parking lot. His mind was too busy trying to process everything else.

"I said it before, wimp. He's my half brother. And I don't even consider Conrad my brother, drop it," Wolfram answered, walking faster and letting go of Yuuri's hand. He seemed to expect him to be able to follow him and be as fast on his own.

"Why? He's so nice! Who wouldn't want a brother like Mr. Weller?"

"This is none of your business, Shibuya. So stay out of it and try to think about your own child. Hmph, you didn't even ask how Liesel was all day!" By Wolfram's tone, he really meant the subject was not going to be discussed anymore and he slowed down his fast pace.

Yuuri frowned and slowed down as well, walking next to his partner. "Um, fine. How was Liesel?" He was still curious, but he really didn't want to get him mad. He was sure a mad Wolfram was worse than an annoyed one.

"Perfect. He didn't interrupt class or anything. He has my manners."

And that time, Yuuri had to cover his mouth to stop himself from laughing. It turned into a cough when Wolfram looked over to glare at him. He wasn't even going to chance making 'Well, yeah, it's an egg' comment or the fact that Wolfram's manners were very questionable.

"That's…good. Really good. So, where we going?"

"To my car."

"Car?!"

They were the age to drive, but nobody Yuuri knew had a car. He was surprised it was never mentioned before, with all the fans the blonde had. How could this not have been common knowledge? A car would have made the boy immensely cooler to the school. Then again, according to the majority, Wolfram was already one the most coolest people, so what difference would a car have made? Maybe he didn't even tell anybody he had a car because it just looked stupid. Really cheap and broken down or something.

…But the car that they got to looked anything but cheap. Yuuri couldn't admit to having an extensive knowledge of cars, but the one that Wolfram was walking to seemed really expensive and something every teenager would dream of having. It was also a pretty red.

Did Wolfram seriously have everything?!

"What's with your face?" Wolfram asked, opening the door and unlocking the passenger side so Yuuri could get in.

Yuuri only sighed and got in, putting his seat belt on and deciding not to even think about an answer to his question. "Nothing, nothing."

"Here, hold Liesel while I drive. And be careful! If you kill our child, I will never forgive you!"

"Hey, why do you think I'd break our child?!" Then when he realized what he said, he blinked before rewording. "I mean our egg?!" Wolfram was rubbing off on him.

"Hmph, because you're a wimp."

"Stop calling me that!" Yuuri yelled. "And even if I was, what does being a coward have to do with being clumsy anyway?"

"I see you falling into water all the time." Wolfram handed the egg to Yuuri, still treating it very gingerly and even if Yuuri felt like an idiot too, he made sure to be gentle, handling it like it really was a newborn. He'd prove that he wouldn't break the egg! "You're a klutz."

"…Okay, that is true." He did have a weird curse of falling into water constantly. Murata joked that maybe he'd been a mermaid in his past life. Yuuri never found that joke very funny. "But I don't want to fail either, so I swear, I will not break this egg, Bielefeld!"

Wolfram looked at him for a few seconds, almost as if he was taking him into consideration, before looking away and putting his seat belt on, starting the car up. "Okay then, wimp."

Yuuri had been expecting him to keep the argument going, and he wasn't even sure why he didn't. But if Wolfram decided to stop, then he would too. It was better they got along anyway.

"So, this is really your car?" Yuuri asked, trying to start up some polite conversation as he stared at the egg's drawn-on smiley face while they drove. Wolfram really hadn't had a stable hand as he had drawn it. The eyes weren't on level, the mouth looked weird, and if there was any word to describe it, the egg's face looked deranged. There was nothing dignified about it. Or elegant, as Liesel supposedly meant.

"Of course it is!" Why did he sound so outraged all the time? "It was a gift from my mother."

"Nice gift," he commented, not sure what else there was to say. He'd never really felt interested in cars or wanted one, so maybe he had chosen a bad topic. "…So."

"If you're going to say something, say it!"

"Uh…uh…my mom's gifts are usually weird, she buys me dresses."

…Where had that topic come from?!

Wolfram looked over him quickly before turning his attention back to the road.

"I don't ask for them…or anything. She just…buys them for me. I don't wear them either. Well, I used to." He laughed nervously, finding that he couldn't stop his rambling. Wolfram looked to him again. "Not by choice! She forced me! She wanted a daughter. She said boys are boring and decided I was cute, so she dressed me up like a girl. I never liked it…" He finally trailed off.

He expected Wolfram to berate him, or call him a girly wimp, but was pleasantly when he didn't do that.

"My mother used to do that too."

"R-really?!"

"Yes. But it never bothered me. I liked wearing the dresses better than tuxedos," he said, sounding casual and not at all embarrassed by his confession. "They were more comfortable."

It became just a little bit more clearer why girls liked Wolfram so much. The guy just admitted having no problem with wearing dresses. He could remember Murata telling him that some girls liked cross dressing and that they should try it some time. Yuuri had declined.

"So when can I go home?" It was better to change the subject. It seemed just plain wrong to talk about dresses with another guy.

"After we've spent some bonding time with Liesel. He has to know he has a good home with us."

"I don't think it really matters to him, but okay. How much bonding time is enough?"

"Dinner. We need to have a dinner together."

Yuuri frowned and tried to ignore how much that sounded like a date. Or maybe he was just being paranoid because Wolfram wasn't treating him anything like a date. Hopefully, anyway. He'd never get a gir--guy if he acted so domineering all the time.

"Oh! Then I have to call my mom…" he remembered, taking out his cell phone with his free hand. It was a little awkward because his free hand was his left hand and he was right handed. The phone was in the right pocket so he had to almost maneuver himself to get it. Maybe Wolfram actually had a point about getting a baby carrier. Holding the egg was actually a little annoying. "She'll worry if I'm not home for dinner," he explained, mostly to himself.

"Ah, Yuu-chan! Why are you calling mama?"

"I'm not going to be here for dinner tonight, Mom."

"Mama, Yuu-chan! Mama!" She said. "And why not? Are you going to Ken-chan's?"

"No, Uhh…" How was he supposed to explain the project? Well, it wasn't the egg. It was more like Wolfram. How was he supposed to explain the school's idol was his partner and he was taking the project way too seriously? 'Oh, sorry, Mom. My partner wants to pretend we're a happy family so I have to have a family dinner at his house'? Knowing his mom, who wasn't like most parents, she'd probably do something weird. "I just have a project to do. With a partner. That's all."

"Hmm…"

"Don't act as if this isn't important, wimp!" Wolfram said suddenly, taking the phone from Yuuri. He had been about to argue that he was driving, but they had actually gotten to their destination without Yuuri even noticing. What was with him today? "Hello? Mrs. Shibuya? Yes, this is Wolfram Bielefeld. The _project_ is we have to take care of a child."

"A child?!"

Yuuri had heard that from his mom and even Wolfram had moved the phone from his ear a little.

"To pass, our child has to stay intact and I want to get the best possible grade so I want the best possible lifestyle for my child. That's why Shibuya will be gone." How come he was being so polite to his mom, but not him?

This time, Yuuri couldn't hear what his mom said, but Wolfram _smiled _and then nodded.

"Okay, Jennifer." Oh no, he had called her Jennifer. "Here is your son."

Yuuri took the phone back a little cautiously, afraid of how his mother would act, and he wasn't too surprised when she started demanding to know since when did she have a grandkid.

"It isn't a real child! It's just an egg!"

"An egg?" Miko repeated, her voice definitely losing some of the excitement. "Aww, but I wanted a real grandchild."

"Don't you think I'm a little too young for that, Mom?"

"Well…okay. You have fun with Wolf-chan, dear!" She hung up and Yuuri pondered the name Wolf-chan before turning to look at Wolfram. "You know, you shouldn't tell her she has grandkids. That's leading her on."

"But Liesel is her grandchild."

"No, he isn't. Liesel is an egg and nowhere near a grandkid!" Yuuri stated before looking out the window and seeing they were at the mall. "Are we really getting a baby carrier for the egg? I mean, can't we just a tissue box or something? Isn't that more practical and cheap?"

Wolfram's eyes widened and Yuuri knew automatically he had said the wrong thing. "You would want to put our child into a tissue box?! You wimp!"

And not even bothering to argue back, Yuuri just sighed and apologized, saying they should just get done what they needed to get done.

When they entered the section of the mall that sold things for babies, Yuuri noticed all the looks they got from people. It had to look a little weird. Two teenage boys, both obviously too young to have a baby, one with an egg in his hand. How embarrassing.

Finally, when one woman came over, even she looked a little unsure. Maybe she thought they were delinquents who just wanted to trash the store.

"Um, can I help you boys?"

"Yes," said Wolfram, sounding very serious. "I want a carrier for our child."

"Your child?" The woman repeated, now looking very confused. But who could blame her? It just didn't sound right. "Um, if this is a joke, I will have to ask you to leave these premises. We will not handle pranks to this store."

"This is not a joke." Wolfram took Liesel from Yuuri and held it up to the salesperson. "I want a carrier for this child."

She looked at it, at its badly drawn face, then to Wolfram and then to Yuuri. She finally settled on an annoyed frown and put a hand on her hip. "Like I said, this store won't put up with your little jokes. Now, if you'll please--"

"This isn't a prank!" With his free hand, he dug into his pocket and took out his wallet, that seemed full of bills and Yuuri felt his eyes widen. "We want the best carrier you have!

And even the woman couldn't say no to that much money.

--

"I can't believe you bought a baby carrier for an egg."

Sure enough, Liesel lay in his new carrier in the back of the car. Of course, he was too small for it so Wolfram had used a sweater that had been in the back of his car to cushion him.

"I told you I would, wimp. Liesel deserves the best."

An egg was being treated better than him and Yuuri laughed mentally at it. The situation, now that was he used to it and found he would just have to go with the flow, was pretty funny. After a week, the egg would mean nothing, but for right now, it was the most important thing in Wolfram's world. An egg. A position so many girls probably wanted. Life was so bizarre.

"What are you snickering about?"

"Oh, nothing. So where's your home anyway?"

"We're almost there."

Yuuri looked out the window and noticed he had never been in this area more than twice. This was usually where people with more money lived. He wasn't poor by any means, but this was the kind of place where people probably drank tea with their pinky up in the air. He never had reason to come to this region.

And it seemed like the farther they went, the bigger the houses got. Adding on the car, the amount of money he had had on hand, and now this area of the town, Yuuri was beginning to wonder just how rich he was.

But he didn't have to wonder anymore when they pulled up to a rather large house. Large wasn't even the beginning. It was huge, gigantic, gargantuan, enormous!

"T-this is your home?!"

"Why else would I pull up to it?!"

"But it's so…_big_!"

"Come on, let's get inside so Liesel can meet his grandmother." Yuuri's reaction seemed to make no difference to him.

Yuuri didn't pay much attention to what he had said, getting out of the car and just staring at the large house. He had always seen places like this on television, never thinking he'd actually see one in real life. It was basically a mansion!

"Are you going to stare all day or come inside?!" Wolfram snapped, holding Liesel's carrier in one hand as he had his other on his hip in a very stand-offish fashion.

Maybe he had money, good looks, and a nice car, but Yuuri still couldn't see how any girl could ignore the bad manners he possessed. But he grumbled a yes anyway and followed Wolfram inside.

The inside of the place looked even more expensive, with large, old looking paintings with scenery, and sculptures. But what amazed him more was the people in the paintings. They looked like they somehow were related to Wolfram. Little features here and there that just reminded him of him.

"Are these your ancestors or something?" Yuuri asked, pointing to the portraits.

"Yes. My lineage goes back ages and ages. I am actually related to a king."

"Really?" Yuuri had to admit, he was impressed. He knew he was related to some samurai here and there, but never any kings. Wolfram brought him to one of the paintings and pointed.

"Yes, him. His name was Shinou and he was known as a great king."

Everybody else had looked somewhat like Wolfram, but this Shinou looked so much like Wolfram, you couldn't deny they were related. The man looked formidable and somehow, Yuuri thought, looked nicer than Wolfram.

"Wolfie!"

Yuuri turned around to see Wolfram be pulled forward suddenly by a woman to her bosom.

"Wolfie! I just got home from my cruise! I missed you, honey!"

She had the same blonde hair, hers longer and with curls but Yuuri couldn't tell anything else. Wolfram was basically covering her body. Now he felt a little immature for occasionally complaining about his own mother. At least she didn't do that sort of thing in front of guests.

"M-Mother!" Wolfram exclaimed once he got away, scowling at her. "We have a guest and I'm holding something important!"

And finally, she looked at Yuuri and Yuuri knew automatically who she was.

"You're Cheri! You were that famous model! My mom loved you!"

She smiled and gave him a wink. Strangely, it looked like she never gotten older. But that was nothing new, celebrities always seemed to stay young. "Yes, that's me." She walked closer to him, her hips swaying and Yuuri caught the scent of her perfume that smelled a lot like roses. He also tried not to notice how very revealing her outfit was.

Putting a hand on his shoulder and leaning forward, she cooed. "Are you my Wolfie's new boyfriend? You're cute."

His entire face went red and he looked to Wolfram, whose face was also covered by a blush.

"Mother!"

"Oh Wolfie," she sighed. "Lighten up a little, will you?" She looked back to Yuuri. "Hopefully you can make him stop being so serious all the time. But his scowl is adorable, wouldn't you agree?"

Yuuri was sputtering and couldn't say anything.

"Mother! This wimp is not my boyfriend. I'd never lower myself like that."

"Hey!" Yuuri shouted. His embarrassment forgotten. They'd been getting long before too. But now he was reminded how rude Wolfram could be.

"Hmm," she hummed, sounding a little disproving, but not saying a word. "Why are you holding a baby carrier anyway?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you. Günter assigned us this assignment to take care of an egg for a week. My partner is Shibuya and we have to raise this child. His name is Liesel."

Cheri looked into the carrier, putting a hand to her lips to giggle politely. Yuuri could only guess the number of things she was laughing at. The fact it was an egg. The fact it was an egg in a baby carrier. The fact Wolfram had called it a child. Or it could have been the scribbled face on the egg.

"You're so serious, Wolfie."

"We're going now, Mother." He didn't even bother to give her that much of a reply.

Without anything else being said, Wolfram took Yuuri's hand and began pulling him up the grand staircase, Yuuri worrying he was going to miss a step and fall to his death. He wasn't very sure why other than the stairs were a bit steep. But they weren't running. But he didn't die and he made it to his destination.

And was in a room with a lot of swords. Suddenly, an image of Wolfram decked out in ninja garb came to mind as he jumped from rooftops. Maybe searching for Liesel. Then he decided the imagery of Wolfram as a ninja was just a little too weird. Besides, did ninjas even use swords?

"There's a lot of swords in here," Yuuri stated, hoping to start some sort of simple conversation.

"This is my room. I sword fight."

"You do? That's so cool!" he exclaimed, grinning and looking around at all the swords, ignoring the fact that the room was impossibly too large for one person. "I didn't think anybody still did that kind of stuff anymore. Man, you just keep adding on, huh?"

"What?" Wolfram asked, still scowling. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, everybody likes you. But now that I think about it, you are pretty cool. You have a car, you have a lot of money, and you sword fight? That's really amazing. I just play baseball and that's it." He laughed and scratched the back of his head. He looked around at all the swords again, marveling at how shiny and dangerous they looked.

"W-whatever." Yuuri looked over at Wolfram, not sure of what he heard. Had he just stuttered? No, no way. Wolfram just didn't stutter.

Wolfram ignored Yuuri looking at him, taking out Liesel before promptly tripping over a sock. Yuuri had not been very sure why a sock was there or how it had been there. He hadn't even seen it there before. Could you trip over a sock? It wasn't very big. But the one thing Yuuri knew for sure was that the egg was flying out of Wolfram's hand.

With a scream, Yuuri used all his skills he'd learned from baseball to jump forward and catch the egg. Breathing a sigh of relief, he sat up and grinned at Wolfram.

"You caught it," Wolfram stated simply, seeming surprised.

He only continued to grin, holding the egg in his hand. "Of course, I said I wouldn't let this egg break, Bielefeld. Good thing I play baseball, huh?"

But Wolfram didn't answer, instead just staring at him as if he was meeting somebody entirely new. He had been expecting some snappish reply, but none came and Yuuri felt confused.

"Um, Bielefeld? Something wrong?"

"No! Now I'm going to do my homework, put Liesel back in the carrier so you can do yours too!"

A thank you would have been nice, but Yuuri only shrugged, not mentioning how it was Wolfram that had taken out the egg in the first place.

--

Wolfram was full of surprises.

"So then you just carry this, subtract this, and then replace this, wimp."

It turned out Wolfram was amazing at math.

"Ah, thanks, Bielefeld. I never would have understood it if you hadn't explained it. I'm not that great at math," Yuuri explained sheepishly. He was now done with all his homework, Wolfram having finished his a while before.

"Call me Wolfram."

That caught Yuuri by surprise and he looked over to him. "Why?"

Looking away, he answered, "I don't want Liesel thinking his parents don't get along and could possibly get divorced."

"That's not exactly a good reason. I mean, Liesel's an egg. I don't think it matters to him whether or not we're married or divorced. We aren't even married anyway."

"Just call me Wolfram already, wimp!"

"Okay! Okay! I'll call you Wolfram! And stop calling me wimp!"

Then suddenly, a yell stated it was time for dinner and Wolfram had said earlier they'd be having dinner together. Yuuri just wished the food was as good as most people said rich food was.

But he was definitely caught off guard when he saw who was sitting at the table.

"Mr. Kleist?! Mr. Voltaire?!"

With a withering glare from Mr. Voltaire and a cheerful wave from Mr. Kleist, Yuuri was surprised he hadn't passed out from shock.

--

"Murata! Bielefeld's entire family works at the school almost! How weird is that? Mr. Voltaire is Bielefeld's half brother?! They look nothing alike! Well, neither do him and Mr. Weller, but that isn't the point! And Mr. Kleist is a family friend…but did you know he used to be a model too? He was Bielefeld's mother's mentor and stuff! He doesn't even look old enough to be a mentor!" Yuuri had felt the need to tell somebody and as soon as he had gotten dropped off from Mr. Kleist, he had gone straight to the phone to talk to Murata, ignoring his mom's pleas to see her grandchild.

"Actually, I did know all of this, Shibuya."

"…How?!" Yuuri asked, his eyes widening. "How do you know _everything_?"

Murata laughed. "I don't know everything. I just know this stuff."

He never answered how he knew as always, but Yuuri continued anyway. "And you know Ms. Karbelnikoff? Yeah, another family friend. And Mr. Grantz? And Mrs. Wincott? Yeah, all family friends! There's probably more, but I'm starting to run some blanks here."

"You're forgetting that Principal Spitzberg is Cheri's brother. And that she owns the school."

"Yeah, that too--wait! You knew that too?"

"I know a lot of things, Shibuya."

And Yuuri knew that to be the truth. How he knew, he was never told, but he decided not to even bother asking why this time.

"It's like some family business they have going on here. Kind of like running a mob or something!"

Yuuri heard Murata laugh again. "I don't think it's anything that large, but yeah, I suppose it is a little strange. But how are you and Bielefeld doing? Getting along?"

"As well as we can, except he's doing this odd thing. He wants me to call him Wolfram now. He already started calling me Yuuri. And wimp. But he's been calling me wimp since the beginning."

"Maybe he has a crush on you," Murata teased and Yuuri glared at the phone. As if sensing the glare, Murata continued. "Or maybe Bielefeld just wants to be your friend. Although wimp sounds a lot more like a pet name than anything else. It's sort of like those shounen-ai mangas. Guy likes another guy, doesn't want to admit it and has some emotional trauma, so he acts mean to drive the other guy away."

"But he isn't really driving me away. He wants to spend time together for 'Liesel'."

"Or maybe that's just an excuse."

Yuuri frowned. "We are not talking about any potential crush Bielefeld may have on me. So, tell me about Takahashi, how's she?"

"Aww," Murata sighed. "She basically left me to do everything for the egg. She didn't want to be my partner at all."

"Tough break," Yuuri comforted and they continued to talk about how cruddy it was about Takahashi.

It felt nice to have a normal moment in his otherwise abnormal day.

* * *

**Notes:** Ah, sorry this took a little longer than usual to get up. A lot of things came up. I made this chapter longer just for that. I am surprised, though, nobody has pointed out I'm not really staying true to Japanese culture. Truthfully, I'm kind of mixing a whole bunch of cultures together. xD And for anybody who is wondering: The egg is a chicken egg. :3

**Warning:** People, this is a comedy story with some romance thrown in. There is hardly anything to really take seriously here. Some of it will never make sense (dude, it's an egg and Wolfram is willing to risk his life just for a good grade). Don't take it seriously. Just like some of Kyou Kara Maou itself (Wolfram accused Yuuri of cheating on him with a dragon! A _dragon_!).


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: What is owning something anyway? Really. Nothing is really ours, if you really think about it. Okay, whatever. Kyou Kara Maou does not belong to me.**

* * *

Yuuri woke up that morning to his cell phone ringing. He sleepily checked the time on his digital clock to see that it was at least an hour before he had to get up and get ready for school. So who in the world was calling?

"Mm, hello?"

"Hello, Yuuri."

"Bi--Wolfram?" He really should have known. Who else would be calling at this time? "Why are you calling so early? No normal student gets up at this time, ugh…"

"I thought you might be interested to know about your own child, wimp!"

"Not this early! Let me go back to sleep. I'll care more about the egg later. I'm too tired now."

"You're a horrible father!"

Yuuri yawned and sat up, sensing that Wolfram was not about to let him off the phone. And if he hung up, he'd probably murder him at school. "M'kay. M'kay. How's Liesel?"

"He slept all through the night."

With the way Wolfram talked, seriously and without any pauses, snickers, or anything of the sort; you had to wonder if there were some screws loose in his head. Making such comments about an egg was just plain weird. _Of course _Liesel didn't make any sounds; he was incapable of actually making any sounds.

"Glad to know we have a well-behaved child," Yuuri mumbled, rubbing his eyes and stretching. "So why are you up this early anyway?"

"This is when I practice my sword fighting."

That did surprise Yuuri some and he looked outside. It was still a little dark and the air was probably still chilly. Most people were probably still asleep, but Wolfram was practicing? It made Yuuri feel lazy about his own hobby.

"You're really serious about everything, aren't you?"

"Why wouldn't I be serious about everything?!"

"No need to sound so outraged." Although Wolfram sounded outraged about everything. "Just making a random observation. So, today I take Liesel during class?"

"Yes, and the carrier has a great handle on it. So carrying it around during class should not be a problem. Even for a wimp like you."

"Um, thanks, but no thanks." He laid back down on his bed and continued, ignoring the wimp part. "I don't really want to be carrying around a baby carrier all day with just a measly egg in it. I'll look like an idiot."

Even before he had finished his sentence, he knew he had said something he shouldn't have said. Something he had been trying hard to avoid saying, making sure the words would never leave his lips.

"That 'measly egg' is our _child_! Liesel is also going to give us a great grade in Home Ec and you talk about him like that! How dare you, wimp! You're a terrible person!"

Wolfram actually sounded angry. Well, he always sounded angry, Yuuri thought to himself, but this time, it was more than usual. He had to take the phone away from his ears.

"Sorry. This is my first child? I have, uh…stage fright?" He tried a joke, laughing pathetically. He heard no sign that Wolfram was amused on the other end and he sighed. "I'm just tired still, that's all. I am very sorry I talked about Liesel in such a fashion. Please forgive me for my rudeness." What a stupid thing to be saying sorry about, he thought. Apologizing over stating the facts about an egg. And just the time same time yesterday, he'd been sleeping peacefully, not having to deal with the way too stressful responsibilities of taking care of an egg with a gay pretty boy.

"What a lousy apology. You could have tried to be more sincere."

"Like cry?"

"Hmph! Whatever! See you at school, wimp!"

He looked to his clock after Wolfram hung up, knowing he couldn't sleep anymore without being late to school. Which would have resulted in more yelling from his over-serious and continuously irate partner.

Just his luck. Maybe the world did have it out for him.

--

"And don't you dare ignore him, wimp! If he needs something, you better give it to Liesel!"

"Uh huh…"

"Sound like you're actually paying attention!"

They were standing in front of the entrance to their school--the one Wolfram basically _owned_--and Wolfram had already started lecturing him and telling him how to take care of their beloved Liesel. Yuuri had started blocked out everybody watching it quickly, even ignoring Murata's chuckles who was standing right next to him. He couldn't really blame anybody for watching something so stupid. If he had been in their position, he probably would have been laughing too.

"But Wolfram--"

Girls began giggling. It turned out girls were really liking they were on first name basis now.

"--I'm pretty sure I can handle Liesel just fine. And you know, you were right! This carrier is really easy to hold! You picked a great carrier." Flattery was always the best way to go.

"I know I did." He didn't even crack a smile. Yuuri wondered how many compliments this guy got in a day. Maybe flattery didn't really work well with him. Not that he couldn't blame him. You just grew used to things you got constantly. "I'm going to class. I don't want to be late, and _neither do you_." He was glaring again. Yuuri wasn't exactly sure why. "Don't set a bad example for Liesel." With a wave to Liesel, he walked off, a few girls trailing behind him, asking him questions that Yuuri couldn't make out.

"How can I set a bad example to an egg anyway?" Yuuri asked to himself, sighing as he looked down at the carrier in his hand. He still felt dumb, especially at how some people would point and then whisper to a friend or just laugh.

"Your reputation around this school is definitely going to change, Shibuya," Murata said, smiling.

"I had a reputation?" Yuuri began walking to his next class, continuing to try to ignore everybody around him.

Murata shrugged. "Well, not much of one, but everybody has a reputation. You were just Yuuri Shibuya, guy with a weird last name and baseball player. Now you're Yuuri Shibuya, Wolfram Bielefeld's partner and egg sitter."

Yuuri could only sigh again.

--

Walking into class, Yuuri had been expecting the same thing that had always happened when he went to class. People looked up, back to whatever they were doing, and he sat down. The same treatment everybody got.

"Shibuya! Over here!"

He had not expected girls to beckon him over, waving excitedly. That definitely didn't happen much. Girls never really paid attention to him. He automatically knew what they wanted, though. He wasn't going to fool himself into thinking they just wanted him. They were probably Wolfram fan girls, but still. They _were_ really pretty. There was no real harm.

"Um, hi," he said as soon as he sat down, grinning nervously and setting the baby carrier next to him. Immediately, the girls looked to it and started giggling.

"They even drew a face on it!"

"That is so cute!"

"So," the first girl asked, looking at him expectedly. "How is it being Wolfram Bielefeld's husband for a week?"

"H-husband?!" He wondered why that word was coming up. Mr. Kleist had never made a comment about partners being married. They were parents. It wasn't as if all parents were married. So why in the world did this girl just refer to him as Wolfram's husband? Yuuri was just happy Murata didn't have this class with him. He probably would have had some disturbing explanation.

"We're partners."

"Partners," one of the girls cooed. What was so special about the word partner?

"So, why are you calling Wolfram Wolfram?"

Yuuri frowned in confusion. "But aren't you calling him Wolfram?"

"Details, details!" The girl said, waving her hands like it didn't matter. She looked at him in a way that said 'tell me everything or I'll never shut up and never leave you alone!'. Yuuri was certain it was probably better to answer.

"He asked me to call him Wolfram."

The girls' eyes widened and then, without much warning at all, the girls squealed. The rest of the kids in the class looked over, looking at Yuuri, wondering what he had done to make such a sound come from the girls.

"He _asked_ you to call him Wolfram?!"

"And he calls him _Yuuri_!"

"_Their_ egg!"

"Liesel Bielefeld!"

"He _asked_ him to call him Wolfram! He _asked_! He _wanted_ it!"

Yuuri blinked twice, trying to understand just what the big deal was. Yes, it was just polite to call him Bielefeld, but it was not that big a deal. Or at least not as big a deal as the girls were making it. Odd, but nothing all that life changing. If Wolfram had asked him to call him Wolfie-chan, or lover, or darling, or beloved; then Yuuri was very sure there would have been something going on.

"Did you see his room?"

"Do you think he was in his room?!"

"Oh! So fast! If we go this fast, maybe Wolfram and Shibuya will start dating in less than a month! How cute would that be?!"

His face was definitely going pale now. Were they serious?

Finally, the teacher walked in.

"Okay now, class! Settle down or any one of you will be my next guinea pig!"

Ms. Karbelnikoff was a very strange teacher. Well, more than just strange. She _hated_ it when somebody accidentally called her 'Mrs.'. She also liked to tell her class she was a mad scientist and that the only reason she was a chemistry teacher was to spread the wonders of the art. Yuuri just liked to believe it was for laughs. But then again…

She was connected to Wolfram's family, and Yuuri was really starting to develop a little bit of an aversion to them. Not to Mr. Weller, though. He was still one of Yuuri's absolute favorites, if not favorite. He seemed normal. But everybody else…

Yuuri shook his head, getting his mind away from the thoughts. It was class, and Ms. Karbelnikoff didn't tolerate people goofing around. Besides, with the way things were going with Wolfram's family and friends, maybe Ms. Karbelnikoff really was some sort of mad scientist.

--

When class was over, Yuuri was not too surprised to see Wolfram standing at the doorway waiting for him.

"_I bet he wants to walk him to his next class!"_

"_This is so sweet!"_

"Is Liesel fine, wimp?"

"_I wonder why he calls him wimp?"_

"_Maybe it's a pet name!"_

"_Aww!"_

"Liesel's fine," he answered. "It's me that isn't. Wolfram, how do you handle all those girls?"

"What do you mean?" Wolfram asked.

"I mean all those girls that follow you around? Squealing? Constantly making up ideas?"

"Oh, that." He said it as if it wasn't anything. Just like having an itch. "I'm used to it. Stop complaining, it isn't anything to whine about. Besides, you should be thinking about Liesel and his comfort!"

"Okay, okay, Wolfram."

"_He called him Wolfram! I heard it! I heard it!"_

"Hey, Shibuya!" Murata walked up to Yuuri and then noticed Wolfram. He smiled. "And Bielefeld."

Wolfram nodded in response and then looked to Liesel, smiling.

"I just came to see you to make sure Liesel was still alive," Wolfram said to Yuuri. "Sit with me at lunch. Liesel needs his parents together."

"_He asked him to sit with him at lunch!"_

"_Then…then we can't sit with him at lunch!"_

"_Sacrifices have to be made!"_

"Uh, Wolfram? I'd love to, really. But I have…have…" He couldn't come up with an excuse! He had heard what those girls had said, and now… "I…I!"

"No excuses!" Wolfram snapped before walking off, leaving Yuuri still sputtering.

"Yep, your reputation is definitely going to change, Shibuya."

--

Yuuri kept looking around as he sat with Wolfram at lunch. He had had Murata come sit with him, hoping it'd make things more comfortable, but actually; it did no real good.

"I'm coming over to your house today, Yuuri," Wolfram said after a small bite of his food. Yuuri never noticed, but he was very polite and neat when he ate. Wiping his mouth with a napkin after each bite and never overstuffing. "I want to meet Liesel's other grandparents."

Yuuri could imagine his mom's reaction to Wolfram and he groaned. "About that, you really don't have to."

"Yes, I do."

"No, trust me, you don't.

He glared. "Yes I do, wimp. Now shut up and eat."

Yuuri took a bite and sighed what felt like his millionth sigh that day. Liesel was in his carrier next to Wolfram and Yuuri frowned. That egg was really becoming more trouble than it was worth.

"Uh, my mom's kind of…uh…hyper."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"She just gets…'excited' about everything. I guess. If that's how I can even word it. I mean, I told you about what she used to do to me. That should give you some kind of hint," Yuuri explained.

Murata smiled. "I like Shibuya's mom."

"You would. You two are buddies or something."

Murata only continued to smile.

"You're probably just making excuses, wimp."

"I am not! And stop calling me wimp!"

"You met my family, I meet yours! That's the way it goes!" Wolfram said, his fists on the table and he was glaring again. "We're supposed to be raising a child and you're doing a lousy job at it!"

"Liesel isn't broken, so I'm doing fine. Besides, look! He's still smiling!" He tried making another joke (after all, Liesel's face was drawn on, he couldn't stop smiling), hoping this time, it would make the mood better. Except Wolfram still wasn't laughing. Actually, he was glaring. His eyebrow looked like it was twitching.

"Stop making jokes out of this situation! It's serious!"

"It's a school assignment, Wolfram."

"School is serious!"

Well, he did have a point there, but…

"I'm sensing a lover's quarrel," Murata commented quietly and Wolfram took his turn to glare at him this time.

"Hmph! I'd choose somebody better to have a lover's quarrel with." He turned his head away in a haughty fashion. Yuuri couldn't say why for sure, but he actually felt a little insulted by that one and he decided just to say nothing again. Besides, he was probably being too sensitive anyway.

Murata said nothing, the smile not leaving his face.

--

It was Home Ec class again and Yuuri was sitting next to Wolfram, Liesel in front of them in his carrier. Some people who had yet to see how far Wolfram had gone in this assignment, had had their jaws fall open in shock. Obviously, Wolfram was going just a little too far.

Some eggs had actually gotten broken. Yuuri wondered how hard it was to keep an egg from breaking for one day, but decided that it was just a simple thing to just drop something. Parents did it to actual children sometimes, so an egg seemed like a pretty easy thing to let go off accidentally.

Well, he thought resolutely, he was sure he wasn't going to drop it. Liesel would stay intact until the week was over. He'd make sure of that.

"Ah, Liesel's fine. Though, I must say, I still think purchasing a baby carrier was going just a little too far." Mr. Kleist said once he got to their table, making sure Liesel had not broken. He smiled at Wolfram and Yuuri made sure not to meet his eyes. It was still weird remembering he had just seen him yesterday at Wolfram's and had eaten dinner with him. You just never wanted to see teacher's outside out of school, especially in a situation like that.

"I'm not going to be negligent unlike some people." Wolfram gave a pointed look to the people who had managed to break their eggs.

"I wouldn't accept anything less from you, Bielefeld. Keep up the good work."

Yuuri heard him walk away and he sighed. "Man, it's weird knowing a teacher like that."

"It isn't. You're just being a wimp. I know every teacher here personally, and I'm not acting like you."

"You're used to it, I'm not."

"Excuses."

This time, he sighed again. Would he ever stop sighing? Ever since this project had begun, it seemed like it was the only sound he was able to produce.

"Class! I would like to say how proud I am that so many eggs have survived this day! Even some people going the extra mile for their egg." It was very obvious who he was talking about. Wolfram smirked, acting as if he had just received a huge compliment; Yuuri wanted to hide under the table in embarrassment. "Some have not been so fortunate. How do you feel about this project, students?"

"It's lame!" One jerk said, laughing.

"Stupid!" yelled another jerk.

Mr. Kleist nodded. "I see. Well, then, maybe detention will actually be fun for you, then?"

"Damn it…"

Mr. Kleist could be very strict sometimes. Yuuri had to remember to be as polite as he could if he ever saw him at Wolfram's again. Along with Mr. Voltaire. And Ms. Karbelnikoff. Actually, he was going to have to be really careful no matter where he was with Wolfram around him.

"Idiots," Wolfram muttered, his arms crossed in front of him. Yuuri could only guess he meant the guys who had acted up earlier.

Mr. Kleist then looked over to him and Wolfram. "Since you two are basically the stars of this project, what would you two say about it?"

"Uh…" What could he say about it?

"It's a good learning experience. I like it," Wolfram answered immediately.

"_He's so mature! Don't you just love him?"_

"_I'm mature too…"_

"That's great. And you, Shibuya?"

"Uh…interesting?" What other word could he use for it? He couldn't say he liked the project, he didn't. Wolfram was his partner. He was loud, demanding, and constantly called him a wimp. He had girls acting as if he was his new super cute boyfriend and saying things he'd never think of. Not to mention he had to carry a baby carrier around, causing absolute humiliation no matter where he went. He found out how this school seemed to be one big family business-type thing, making his education just seem plain weird because of the project; and he still was not sure how his family would react, mainly his mother.

"_Shibuya's so cute!"_

"_You really don't care about me at all, do you?"_

"_Huh? Did you say something?"_

"…_No…"_

Wolfram scowled at him, obviously not happy with his answer. But really, it was the only positive thing he could say about it. He couldn't actually say what he felt. Mr. Kleist seemed fine with his answer anyway. So Yuuri guessed it was fine.

Besides, he had more important things to worry about. Mostly Wolfram coming over to his house.

At least the day was almost over.

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**Notes**: Oh man, I'm sorry it took me this long to update. I can list reasons (I really could) why it took me more than a month, but ya know. There really is nothing else to say. Actually, there is! I am very surprised this is almost to 100 reviews already (Just wow!). **Whoever gets the 100th review, I'll write you something as a gift.** But everybody else who has reviewed: Thank you very much and I hope you continue to like this story. I'll try my best. Hugs for everybody!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I'm not even sure I want to own it. Seems like a lot of work, owning a show...**

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Yuuri tried to get more comfortable as he drove with Wolfram in his car, but was failing to do so with his constant squirming around. It wasn't that the car seats were uncomfortable (they were very comfortable as a matter of fact), but because of where they were going. Yuuri was still not prepared for his own family to get involved. He still wasn't ready for _himself_ to be involved, so how was he supposed to be prepared for his family?

"Stop fidgeting," Wolfram ordered.

"I can't. I'm nervous."

"You weren't this nervous when you met my family."

"I didn't think your family was…your family." How else could you explain Wolfram's family without offending the oh so easily angered teen? His family was too…eccentric, to put it nicely. "Trust me, if I had known, I'd probably be crying." _Please don't let him yell at me; please don't let him yell at me…_

"Hmph, I know you'd be crying, wimp. You're lucky I'm here. I'll stop you from crying." Was he smirking? Yuuri wondered as he looked to his partner.

Yuuri frowned. "I wouldn't actually cry. I was joking." Did he actually seem like that much of a wimp? He really liked to think he didn't.

Wolfram said nothing, keeping his eyes on the road and continuing to drive. What was it with this guy and loving to insult him anyway? Except he didn't do it in an overly hurtful way. He didn't see Wolfram as the type anyway. Uptight and snappy, but hardly cruel.

"My mom really does get overexcited over just about anything," Yuuri started talking again, noticing it made him less nervous. "She goes into daydreams about my wedding day already, and how she'll dress the girl up. She even orders wedding catalogues! I think I saw some for babies too, so who knows how she'll act about Liesel. Then Shouri…"

"Who's Shouri?" Wolfram asked.

"Oh, that's my older brother. He's the usual type. Bossy, thinks I should consider him my personal hero, and a bunch of other big brother stuff. Then again, your brother is Mr. Weller! That's kind of the jackpot, huh?" Yuuri laughed lightly, hoping Wolfram would laugh along or something.

Wolfram's hands clenched around the driving wheel. "Whatever. Do you have a father?"

What had that been about? What was it with him and Mr. Weller? He obviously disliked him, but Yuuri could still not understand why. Maybe it was some deep family secret. Maybe Mr. Weller was adopted and Wolfram was having that weird thing where he didn't consider somebody not related to him by blood, family at all? It would explain how Mr. Weller just seemed so different from the rest of his family--not so crazy and a lot more normal and somebody you could really feel comfortable around. But Yuuri had seen a little of Cheri in him, so she was obviously his mother, and Yuuri couldn't think of any other reasons.

"Wimp! Do you have a father or not?!"

Yuuri was startled out of his thoughts. He hadn't answered Wolfram's question and with how impatient Wolfram was, he yelled. As usual. "No need to yell." Yuuri said as he looked over to his partner before answering the question. "Yeah, I have a father. He works a lot, so he may not be able to make it for supper. But Dad's pretty sane. I mean, none of my family is _in_sane, it's just he's easier to handle. So there shouldn't be any problems."

"I'm not expecting any problems. I'm easy to get along with."

"Haha, yeah. Real easy to get along with."

"Are you lying to me?!"

"What? No!"

"Hmph, stupid wimp."

"Are you ever going to stop calling me that?"

No reply and Yuuri took that as a definite negative. Silence swarmed around them and Yuuri looked out the window, pointing out mentally all the familiar stops on his way home before realizing he had not given Wolfram a single direction.

"Wolfram, I never told you where I live, but we're really close to my home. How?"

"Murata gave me the directions since _somebody_ forgot."

"I should have known…"

Quickly enough, Wolfram pulled up to a modest house and for the first time ever since he had lived there, Yuuri thought his home looked very menacing. It was giving off the kind of aura a torture chamber would.

Wolfram was out of the car and had Liesel with him before Yuuri was even ready to think about stepping out.

"Come on, wimp! Everybody doesn't have as much free time as you."

So Yuuri frowned and got out, chanting to himself mentally that he just had to be a man and get it over with. Then he felt just a little dumb doing such a mantra over something so…_not life-threatening_.

"Yuuri! Yuuri!"

Yuuri didn't have any time to react until he felt himself pounced on, though he automatically knew who it was, and wrapped an arm around the person's shoulder.

"Oh, hey, Greta." He had forgotten about Greta staying with them, but she was a nice little girl who always behaved no matter what. She wouldn't cause any problems and Yuuri wondered if maybe he really was making too big of a deal out of nothing. "How are you?"

Before she could answer, Wolfram cleared his throat, gaining attention to himself. Greta looked to him and then to Yuuri expectedly, silently asking who the other person was.

"Ah, yeah. Greta, this is Wolfram Bielefeld. My uh…" Momentarily, he forgot what to call Wolfram, which seemed like a strange thing to do. "Project partner!" The words finally came back to him. He wondered how he could have forgotten something so simple. "Yeah, my partner. That's it. Wolfram, this is Greta. She's my neighbor."

Greta smiled and waved. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Bielefeld."

Wolfram smiled, which shocked Yuuri just a little. It was an honest smile, the kind where you seemed genuinely pleased. Not a smirk or one of those fake ones he did for manners' sakes. It was refreshing and Yuuri thought that if maybe he could just act that way a little more, then they'd be able to get along better.

"We watch Greta when her mom's busy. Isn't that right, Greta?" Yuuri looked down to the girl, smiling. There was no point in getting lost in thoughts now.

"Yep! And Yuuri's my best friend, right?"

Yuuri nodded. "Best of friends." He wasn't even really lying. Although Greta was so much younger than him, he really did consider her to be a friend and most likely one of his best. His mom thought it was adorable and once thought matching outfits would have been a great idea. Yuuri had disagreed. Murata tended to laugh over the fact that Yuuri considered a little girl one of his best friends and had said Jennifer had had a great idea.

"Hm, maybe you're not as much of a wimp as I originally thought," Wolfram commented and Yuuri had been ready to comment that he'd never even been a wimp until Greta interrupted.

"Mr. Bielefeld? Why are you carrying an egg? And why does that egg have a face on it? None of the eggs I've seen have faces on them."

"It's our child," Wolfram explained and Yuuri groaned in what could be horror, but a lot less dramatic. What Wolfram was saying could be taken so wrongly, and since Greta was so young, Yuuri knew exactly how she would take it. Didn't the blonde supposedly get high grades? Why was he talking this way to her?

"Greta, listen--"

"Whose?" Greta asked, not hearing Yuuri at all. What did the world have against him?!

"Yuuri's and I," Wolfram answered, still not noticing that Yuuri was trying to handle the situation on his own. Why was he choosing this current moment to act so unaware?

"No, Greta, you see--" Yuuri could see where this was going and he was going to put a stop to it before it even went there.

Greta's eyes widened. "You and Yuuri laid an egg?" She then frowned in confusion, an adorable pout adorning her childish face. "I thought only birds could lay eggs. I don't think boys can lay eggs…"

"Listen!" Yuuri finally shouted, this time, being heard at last. Though he knew now he had probably sounded like an idiot and a sheepish chuckle escaped from him. Maybe he should have been more quiet.

Wolfram scowled. "There's no need to yell, wimp."

"You should use your indoor voice," Greta said, frowning in what could be called a disciplinary way.

Yuuri was ready to explain himself, but then a new presence made itself known and Yuuri knew then that the situation was only going to worsen itself.

"Yuu-chan! Greta-chan! Why are you out here?"

Miko 'Jennifer' Shibuya was not a bad mother at all. Actually, on the contrary, Yuuri would say she was probably better than most mothers were. She was nurturing and always doing whatever she could to make her kids happy and more. Of course, there was the problem with trying to make her sons into girls, but it was easy enough to overlook when you thought about all she did. She was very dedicated and Yuuri would admit to wanting nobody else as his mom.

But…

Jennifer's eyes strayed to where Wolfram was standing and then to the baby carrier in his hands. "Oh! Is this my grandchild?" She exclaimed, running to Wolfram to take a peek at her 'grandchild'. "Aw, how cute! Maybe not a real child, but this'll do!" Finally, she looked up to Wolfram and smiled. "You must be Wolfram! You're so pretty."

"Mom!" Yuuri cried out. Yes, that generally was the first thought people had when they saw Wolfram. Heck, it had been exactly what Yuuri had called him enough times, but for his mom to say it was embarrassing. Although a lot of the things she said were embarrassing, mostly because she was his mom, but calling some guy she just met pretty? Well, that was more than enough.

She turned back to Yuuri with a disapproving stare. "Mama, Yuu-chan. You can call me Mama, too, Wolf-chan! You're basically my son-in-law for right now!"

Yuuri was hoping that Wolfram would react like he usually did with him, but the blonde seemed to have amazing manners when it came to anybody _except _for him and Mr. Weller. No, Wolfram was courteous and smiled.

"Thank you, Mama!" Wolfram seemed pretty happy somebody was serious about this project as him. Yuuri felt he just wanted to hide in his room, under his blankets with his pillow planted firmly over his head.

Jennifer ushered them into her house finally, and set to making Wolfram feel right at home before asking him all the important questions. The ones she seemed to think her duty as temporary mother-in-law were essential to ask.

"So why couldn't Liesel have been a girl?" was her first, vital question. Of course this was essential to her (_"Yuu-chan, when you have kids, I want a lot of pretty little granddaughters!" _was something heard constantly).

"I just thought a son made sense," Wolfram answered from his seat on the couch, sipping the tea Jennifer had made him, Greta next to him, listening politely. Yuuri next to her, wondering anxiously when she'd just go too far. "Next time, we'll definitely have a girl."

"Hmph, men would think sons made more sense!" Jennifer replied with a childish pout. "But you know, sons really are boring. They don't care about anything fun. They never help you with what to wear or anything. All they do is say 'you look nice, Mom'!" She then turned her pout to Yuuri. "And they won't even let you dress them up. Yuuri made me stop when he thought he was too old to look pretty."

"Mom," Yuuri groaned.

"Well, you did! Thankfully I have Greta! You like the pretty dresses I buy you, don't you, honey?"

Greta nodded excitedly. "They're really pretty. Mrs. Shibuya has really nice things!"

Jennifer moved so she could hug Greta to her. "If only I had a daughter like you! At least I know what it's like to have a pretty daughter."

So far, nothing was too bad, Yuuri thought with evergrowing relief. Wolfram was being polite, his mom wasn't pushing Wolfram to go try on a frilly apron in the kitchen (the one Murata would actually wear sometimes), and Greta was being a doll as she always was. Liesel was also lying in his carrier, in tact and still smiling that crooked smile of his that Wolfram had drawn on.

Perhaps he had been worrying too much. Maybe he shouldn't have been so bothered, thinking some great disaster was going to happen. It wasn't like his mother was going to do anything really bad. It wasn't like she was going to suggest something totally outrageous. All he had to do now was get Wolfram up to his room without any fuss so they could do their homework, maybe play some catch with Greta, dinner, and then the day was through.

Yes, Yuuri thought to himself, a smile appearing on his face. Everything was--

A knock on the front door made Yuuri stop what he was thinking as his mom excused herself to go to the front door. Yuuri wasn't sure who it could be, they weren't expecting anybody and it wasn't as if Shouri or his father would have knocked on their own door.

"Ken-chan!"

While Murata was not evil or mean by any means, Yuuri had noticed his friend did have a habit of loving to 'tinker' with things, just to see how they would turn out. He had never caused anybody harm and Yuuri didn't expect him to. Murata was a loyal friend.

But as Murata stood there in his living room, smiling and saying he thought he'd stop over for a visit (and he knew Yuuri had been nervous and he had known Wolfram would be here and he had known that his mom was always saying stuff and he had known this and he had known that…), Yuuri was certain that what he thought was going to be an okay day, was going to turn into something definitely not okay. Or at least something that he knew would give him at least three heart attacks. Especially since Murata had been acting odder ever since the project began and Yuuri had been paired up with Wolfram. Like he had some weird plan that nobody else knew…

"Hey, wimp, you look like you're going to pass out."

* * *

**Notes**: So, if you want my excuses for why this is so late, I'll just say: reality sucks. But I am sorry this was so late! I am very happy you all were so patient and I wasn't getting anybody complaining. But guess what, WE'RE ALMOST DONE WITH THIS STORY...no, we are not. I was kidding. We aren't. We have five more days. I hope I can be quicker with the next update! Did anybody else find it ironic I was saying sorry for being a little more than a month late before...? xD


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: It doesn't belong to me. What? You wanted something witty? Sorry, no can do.**

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Currently, both Murata and Wolfram were in his room, working on homework and Greta had gone home. Yuuri was trying to work on a math problem, but with Murata there, Yuuri found it was a hard job to actually care about whatever x equaled to. It could have equaled to flying pink penguins for all he cared at the moment.

So far, Murata had done nothing. He had been friendly and polite, as always, and has done nothing evil whatsoever. Although Yuuri knew Murata wasn't evil. He could just pull it off very, very well.

But Murata was his friend! Friends didn't do evil things to friends! Yuuri knew he certainly would never do evil things to Murata. Was he being a horrible friend for doubting Murata? Did their friendship mean nothing to him at all then?

"Yuuri?" Somebody was calling for him, but Yuuri was too busy wondering over the finer details of his friendship with Murata. "Yuu-ri!" What kind of friend was he anyway? Expecting his friend, one of his best and truest, to do evil things to him! "YUURI!" He was the worst friend ever! "WIMP! I'm talking to you! Answer me already!"

It was only when Wolfram called him wimp, that Yuuri finally realized he was trying to talk to him.

"Don't call me that!"

"Well, how else was I supposed to get your attention?"

"Call my name!"

"I _did_!" Wolfram ground out. "You were too busy gazing into space every time I called you!"

Oh. Wolfram did have him there. "…You don't have to call me wimp, though," he argued in a tiny voice, still not wanting to admit that Wolfram actually right about using the term wimp with him after all because he wasn't right. He'd never be right when it came to that term.

Murata smiled cheerfully at the exchange and laughed. "Am I witnessing another lovers' quarrel?"

All Yuuri did was blanch and try to focus on his homework because now that he thought about it just a little more, what did that pesky x equal to anyway? This actually was kind of important, when he thought about it harder. Whatever x equaled to could very well be a life-changing discovery!

"What are you talking about?" Wolfram asked, his face serious and he crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you mean lovers' quarrel?"

"Oh, nothing," Murata answered, going back to his own homework with a slight grin on his face. Yuuri didn't care what kind of friend it made him anymore, Murata was evil. There were no doubts about that.

Wolfram didn't seem too pleased with the answer, but seemed to understand Murata well enough that he wouldn't get anymore from the boy. Instead, he turned his attention back to Yuuri. "Anyway, wimp--"

Yuuri frowned, looking up from his work. "I'm paying more attention now, so you don't have to call me wimp."

"It's all you answer to."

Yuuri decided that once again, x didn't matter anymore. It would still be equaling something later. There were more important matters now. "I answer to Yuuri. I answer to Shibuya too!"

"He even answers to Yuu-chan!" Murata piped up and when Yuuri looked at him, he grinned again. Damn Murata and his evil little grins. "You do."

"Only because my mom calls me that, so she doesn't count. But I answer to Yuuri and Shibuya!"

"Well, I'm not calling you Shibuya. It's a bad environment for Liesel. I want him to know that his fathers are friendly enough to call each other by their first names." There he went again, treating the egg as if it really did care about its environment. Or anything. Would the fact that it was an inanimate object ever get through to him? That it had no feelings? It didn't need a good environment. "And I'd call you Yuuri if you ever answered to it. Wimp is the only reasonable thing I can call you."

"Reasonable," Yuuri muttered, rolling his eyes and looking to the side. He looked to Murata, who rolled his shoulders in a 'what can you do?' way. Even he seemed to realize that there was no way to get through to Wolfram Bielefeld. He was too stubborn. And realizing that so soon clearly showed how unreasonable Wolfram could be. Yuuri was pretty sure, though, that it was one thing he would just have to put up with. And it wasn't too bad a thing to put up with really. Things could have been worse and maybe he was just being a little too down on Wolfram. They could get along and actually, Yuuri could easily see himself being friends with Wolfram one day. It actually felt kind of nice to have this little group with Murata along…

Yuuri smiled and looked over to Liesel, who, as always and would always, smiled back.

----

After finding out what x equaled to (to twenty-three point two, who knew?) and finding out what some of the other letters of the alphabet equaled to, all of Yuuri's homework was done and it seemed Wolfram and Murata needed a break from working.

"So, Murata, how's your egg going?" Yuuri asked, deciding they should talk about something they all had in common. "I know you said you and Takahashi weren't getting along last time we talked about this."

Murata sighed and shrugged. "She still doesn't really want anything to do with me. It's too bad. She's really cute and everything. She even looked like she had that gentle kind of personality, but she's just totally leaving me to do all the work. It's not really a big deal, it is just an egg." Wolfram twitched a little at that comment. "I just thought it'd be a little more fun to have a cute girl as a partner."

Yuuri frowned. "It would be fun to have a cute girl as a partner…" Or perhaps just any girl. They didn't even have to be cute. "Still, sorry about Takahashi. What are you going to do?"

"You should tell Mr. Kleist," Wolfram said. "He's a good teacher and he likes to make sure everybody does their part. It's unfair for you if Takashi is making you do all the work. Even if you think it's just 'an egg', this is still a good learning experience and she should still be learning. If she is showing this kind of responsibility now, who knows how she'll act later on with more important things."

When nobody said anything in response to Wolfram's little speech, he scowled and looked irritated. "What?!"

Yuuri shook his head, smiling at his partner. "Nothing, Wolfram. Just sometimes, you still surprise me. I think I get a good reading on you and then you do stuff like that. You're pretty mature, huh?"

Wolfram looked a little surprised at what Yuuri said about him. For a moment, Yuuri wondered if maybe this was a brand new start for them to be friends, having the kind of friendship he had been thinking about earlier. But then he turned his head and crossed his arms across his chest in a disgruntled manner. "Whatever, wimp."

"And then you call me wimp…" Why did he do that? Weren't they getting along? Every time they had a nice moment, a moment where Yuuri could say he really did like Wolfram and would like to be his friend, something like that happened. As if he was sabotaging it on purpose. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but it really did seem like that.

"Anyway, sorry to be a burden, but I am getting a little hungry." Murata successfully changed the mood and Yuuri was glad he was there. He wasn't really so evil.

"I'm sorry," Yuuri apologized. "Mom's making dinner and I don't think she thought about making any snacks for us to munch on."

"No, I just came here without any warning. It's more my fault than anybody else's."

Then, as if on cue, Jennifer came knocked on Yuuri's door and poked her head in, smiling. "Sho-chan and Papa came home, Yuuri, so dinner is all ready! You're staying, right, Wolf-chan?" Wolfram nodded and she looked to Murata. "Would you like to stay for dinner? I made plenty of food and I love having you for dinner, Ken-chan!"

'Ken-chan' said yes. "I love your cooking!"

And at first, Yuuri didn't think much of it, but then he remembered about Wolfram being over for dinner. And then with the weird way Shouri treated anybody who knew Yuuri well enough to be at the house (and his strange relationship with Murata which Yuuri still couldn't figure out), Yuuri felt nervous about dinner and how it would play out.

----

Shouri, all in all, was a pretty decent brother. Of course, he was annoying in that way all older siblings had to be, like an unwritten law. And if you asked Yuuri, he was way too much like their mother in the concern that he wanted Yuuri to treat him as if he was his hero. He had been like that when they were younger, but now Yuuri didn't really feel the need for a hero. Shouri was just Shouri and that was it.

"You're raising an egg like a child?" he asked, looking at the egg that was in Wolfram's hand. He looked back to Yuuri with a look that meant he found the project entirely stupid. "And with this guy? What teacher thought this was a good idea? Do they think this is some sitcom? Who seriously makes a project like this?"

Wolfram coughed. "Actually, Brother--"

"Brother?!" Shouri shouted.

Murata grinned. "Isn't Bielefeld charming?"

Shouri scowled at Murata. "You think so, friend of my little brother?"

Murata returned Shouri's scowl with a cheerful smile. "I do, older brother of my friend."

Yuuri sighed at their nicknames for each other and sat down at the dinner table where everybody else followed his example. Wolfram looked a little disgruntled at being interrupted and not being able to finish what he wanted to say while Shouri looked just as disgruntled and Murata, well, he looked like he usually did. It was only then that they were all seated that Shoma Shibuya showed up.

Yuuri mostly related to his father. Compared to his mom, Shoma Shibuya was soft-spoken and not one for dramatics. He never clung to Yuuri the way his mom and brother did, and Yuuri appreciated that. Of course, his father was often busy with work, so maybe that was the reason why he never clung. But it was also his father that got him into baseball. He loved the Boston Red Sox and so Yuuri also had his dad to thank for introducing him to baseball and that was one thing he would always be grateful for.

"Ah, Dad. I'd like you to meet Wolfram Bielefeld; he's my partner on that project I told you about?"

Shoma looked to Wolfram warily. Yuuri had also been complaining about how Wolfram had been acting.

"Isn't he so pretty, honey?" Jennifer said. Yuuri groaned and wondered why he was sure it was only his mom who would ever be so up front about how she felt about her youngest son's classmate to her husband.

Shoma smiled good-naturedly and just sat down at the table.

"So, Yuuri tells us you're a, uh, harder worker," Shoma said as he tried to start some kind of conversation with Wolfram. Yuuri had learned by now not too worry too much with the rudeness he would show only to a select few. He was always polite to anybody else.

Wolfram nodded as he took a bite of his food. "I believe in working hard and getting the best you possibly can. There is never any reason to slack except for laziness. Also, Mama, this is great. You're a good cook."

"Mama?!" Shouri yelled, looking completely taken aback. "Mom! You're letting him call you mama?!"

Jennifer pouted. "Yes! You need to call me mama, too! And for right now, Wolf-chan is basically family! He is helping to raise my grandchild!"

"B-but Mom! It's not really your grandchild, it's an egg!" Shouri argued. "Listen to yourself!"

Yuuri sighed. "That's what I've been saying this entire time," he murmured to himself. At least somebody else saw this the same way he did.

"I consider this egg my child," Wolfram said. He looked a little irritated and was obviously holding himself back from yelling at Shouri at the dinner table. Yuuri had been right in trusting his good manners. "And Yuuri should be just as serious as me about it."

Shouri glared at Wolfram. "And that's another thing I don't like, you calling my little brother Yuuri. You don't know him that well. What do you think gives you that right to call him that? Not even Murata calls my brother Yuuri."

Murata smiled at the acknowledgment and went back to eating as he watched the show. He was enjoying this way too much.

"I think it's cute! He's a great husband!" Jennifer said.

"Husband?!" Yuuri began to wonder if Shouri's throat was going to get sore from all the surprised yelling he was doing. Yuuri couldn't find it in him to really be all that shocked. He wasn't even all that shocked that these were his mom's feelings on the whole matter. "So, what? Do you want Yuuri to marry this classmate of his?"

"He's pretty and nice! I wouldn't mind having a son like him at all!"

Yuuri was very sure he was going to die of humiliation at any moment now. Looking over to his father, he silently asked him to try to diffuse the situation. Shoma only gave his son a half-smile, silently telling him back that he had no idea how to really stop this problem at all.

Well, if nobody else would take care of the problem, he would.

Before anything got worse and before Shouri could argue back, Yuuri interrupted him.

"Wolfram!" He shouted (and it sounded an awful lot like Shouri muttered 'and he calls him _Wolfram_?!'). "I don't have any idea how to feed Liesel!" There. That would definitely stop whatever fiery argument that was about to start! Things would definitely be better now!

But instead, Wolfram gave Yuuri a flat look and said:

"As much as I consider Liesel my child, he is still just an egg in the end. He can't eat."

And Yuuri wondered how much of an idiot he must have looked like when his mouth dropped open and he couldn't find the strength in him to close it.

----

Murata had left after dinner was done, thanking Yuuri for the 'good time' and Wolfram was still around. Yuuri didn't question it too much. It wasn't really too late and there had been dessert after all. Anybody would have stayed for some of his mother's ice cream cake and the only reason Murata had not was just because he did not have a sweet tooth. Which made Murata just a little odder in his eyes.

There was a knock on the door and when Yuuri answered it, he saw Greta standing on the steps with a smile.

"Hi, Yuuri. Is it okay if we play catch?"

Yuuri had accidentally forgotten all about their little habitual game of catch and so he felt a little bad about forgetting her. Everything had just been so hectic and he was kind of too tired to play anything, but with the way Greta was smiling at him, he was not about to say no.

"Sure, just give me a minute to get our gloves, okay? You can go out to the back yard and wait for me."

Greta nodded and ran to the back excitedly. Yuuri smiled at her enthusiasm, wondering if he had permanently infected her with a love of baseball (she did ask a lot about learning how to hit a ball with a bat and asking if she could watch a game with Yuuri and Shoma), or if she was just being young and easily influenced. While he thought of that, he turned around and jumped a little when he saw Wolfram standing there.

"Can I watch?"

Yuuri blinked. "You want to watch?" Wolfram nodded and Yuuri frowned in bewilderment. "Seriously? It's just Greta and I playing baseball. Nothing special. And besides, I thought you'd want to be out of here after that circus show back there at dinner."

"I've seen worse," was all Wolfram said and Yuuri decided not to ask any questions as he went to get his and Greta's stuff. "Anissina does a lot worse to Gwendal than anything anybody did tonight. I have heard a grown man cry."

Yuuri had a feeling he should have known those names, but nothing came to mind and so he went to the backyard to play a game of catch with Greta, who was getting better and better each time at catching the ball. Yuuri hoped she really was falling in love with the sport, seeing as she did have a pretty good arm and he would have loved to see her in a serious game of softball.

When Yuuri looked over to Wolfram, he noticed how serene and calm he looked. He had Liesel's carrier next to him with the egg inside. He looked nothing like the Wolfram he was used to dealing with. The uptight Wolfram who he found it hard to get along with. He smiled to Wolfram and felt just a little something when Wolfram smiled back.

When it got to be too late for Greta and they said their good-byes and promises to see each other again the next day, Wolfram decided it was late for him too and he needed to go home.

"Hey, wimp."

Yuuri rolled his eyes at the name he was honestly getting sick of hearing and looked to Wolfram, a little taken aback when he saw an even more beautiful smile on his partner's face than the one that had been there before.

"Maybe you wouldn't be such a bad father after all."

Yuuri's eyes widened at the compliment he had been given and when Wolfram realized he had nothing to say back, he turned to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow…Yuuri."

* * *

**Notes**: Hey, guys! Miss me? :D First off, I do want to apologize for how long this took. Over four months, yikes. But I do want to explain some things. Now, we know everybody has lives, yes? Great. So I've personal stuff going on, work, college, getting sick, and then the cursed writer's block for this story. I'm sorry I didn't update for so long, really, but there is no need at all to remind me that I haven't updated. Thanks, but I already know. Seriously. Let me say it again: Do not remind me I haven't updated and just sit there and wait. This will be updated and it will be finished. **To everybody who was patient and is still with me**: Thank you so much and this is for you.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Does not belong to me.**

* * *

With the craziness that had been going on with Yuuri lately, he had completely forgotten all about the upcoming baseball game. One of the first in the season and he hadn't been practicing at all. When he had apologized to Mr. Weller, he had only smiled and said he understood. The man was so nice and just how could Wolfram not like him? If Shouri could have been half as nice as Mr. Weller, things would have been so much better.

But that wasn't the worst of his problems, so Yuuri stopped thinking about that and instead worried about what was actually important: convincing Wolfram that baseball practice was a lot more important than an egg and spending time with him, probably discussing the best way to raise the egg. Or something. Honestly, Yuuri didn't know what Wolfram expected from him when they hung out. Either way, he just couldn't do it today.

Wolfram was waiting by his locker, Liesel's carrier in his hand and Liesel safely snuggled inside.

"Ah, Yuuri, listen--"

"No, you listen!" When Yuuri realized what he said, he blinked in shock and then laughed awkwardly. "Sorry! Just really excited and I'm just worried you aren't going to like this and might want to argue with me." That had been the wrong thing to say. Yuuri had known that as soon as he had said it. Around Wolfram, he needed to think about what he was going to say and he never did. When was he going to learn?

"What are you implying? That I'm unreasonable?" Wolfram didn't look pleased and for once, Yuuri couldn't really blame him.

"No! I mean, okay, yeah, you don't listen to me sometimes--" Wolfram began to look angrier and Yuuri panicked. "But you're not unreasonable! I'm sorry! I just need to tell you I can't hang out with you today because I have baseball practice!"

"That's what I wanted to talk about. Conrad told me and I figured I could just sit on the benches and wait for you to be done. I think this could be considered family bonding time."

For a minute, Yuuri wondered how Wolfram could have known any of that before Yuuri remembered that Conrad was Mr. Weller and he had probably told Wolfram so he wouldn't say no right away. Mr. Weller really was a great guy.

Yuuri smiled and nodded. "Okay then. You know where the baseball field is, right?"

"Hmph, of course I do."

"Okay! Then meet me there and--"

"And then we're having dinner at your place again," Wolfram said and just the way he said showed he wasn't going to allow any room for argument. Things had gone well the last time, no house fires and nobody had lost an eye or anything, so Yuuri didn't bother to say no.

Though 'we're having dinner' made it kind of sound like a date and--Yuuri stopped himself from going any further with those thoughts with an awkward laugh. Seriously, he was over thinking things way too much.

----

"Class! I am pleased to see so many eggs still living!" Mr. Kleist then sighed and looked to the people who were eggless. "Though I am sad to see a few have left this world. Ah, thank goodness these were not real children. Who in the world throws their children like a ball?" Two boys looked away and snickered a little. Mr. Kleist frowned at them and then went back to cheerfully smiling. "But I really would once again to like point out how well Bielefeld and Shibuya have done with this task! Honestly, buying a carrier for their child. I don't think I have seen two fitter parents."

Wolfram actually had the gall to look smug at the praise Mr. Kleist is giving them. All Yuuri could think of doing was hiding his head in the crook of his elbow on the table. All the other kids in the class thought they'd gone too far and they had. Or at least Wolfram had. But that didn't matter to Wolfram because he just seemed to take any compliment from anybody as a reason to smirk and feel proud.

At the least, Yuuri thought to himself, he must not suffer from low self-confidence.

"Is there anything you would like to say, boys?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Yuuri groaned and closed his eyes, pretending he was at home, watching a baseball game on his television. "I think how seriously everybody has taken this project really does show how you consider raising a child. Which is kind of disturbing actually. These kids are our future generation!"

"Bielefeld?" One girl raises her hand and looks a little unsure of herself. "I get where you're coming from because yeah, kids are the next in line for the world, but I don't think how well you take care of an egg shows what kind of parent you're going to be. I mean, I really want to be a mom and I love kids, but I'm not about to go buy an egg a baby carrier. That's kind of crazy."

Wolfram turned around to face the girl, who squeaked and looked like she wished she hadn't said anything. "I can understand where you're coming from, but the point of this project is to consider this egg as if it were your child. That is exactly what I'm doing. I wouldn't let my kid be uncomfortable."

The girl looked like she wants to say something else before she shakes her head and Yuuri could understand exactly just how she felt. He felt like that all the time when he was around.

"_He's just so serious! It's so refreshing!"_

"_I can be serious too…"_

----

Wolfram was there waiting for him by his locker again when school had ended. Even though all classes end at the same time, Wolfram is there before him and Yuuri wonders how he is able to do that. It's weird and the idea that maybe Wolfram has some kind of super speed goes through Yuuri's mind for a little while before he brushes it away, laughing.

"Practices are around an hour and a half. Are you sure you really want to stick around for that long? I don't mind if you don't. You could just come to my house later?" Yuuri asked as he walked to the changing rooms. He's standing outside the door.

Wolfram scowled. "Wimp, be quiet. If I said I want to, then I will."

"Aw, you hadn't called me wimp all day." He was very disappointed by that actually and it was probably obvious because he frowns, though it would look like a pout to some.

"Then you shouldn't act like one."

"But I don't act like one! I didn't do anything to be called that! I never have. It's not like I run away crying all the time or something."

"Whatever." Wolfram picked Liesel's carrier back up where he had rested it by his feet. "Just go hurry up and get changed so you don't keep your teammates waiting. There's nothing I hate more than bad manners." He walks away, leaving Yuuri very confused.

Isn't it bad manners to keep calling somebody a wimp when they've done nothing to deserve it? He's used to it now so Yuuri does as Wolfram told him to do and just changes into his outfit. When he gets outside, Wolfram is sitting on the benches with Liesel next to him. He looks so serious and Yuuri chuckles kind of awkwardly. At least it isn't too hot out so he doesn't have to worry about Wolfram getting sunstroke or Liesel bursting from being too hot.

He's doing his stretches and warm-ups when one of his teammates runs up to him. "Hey, Shibuya?"

"Yeah?"

The guy looks to Wolfram and then back to Yuuri. "I've…been hearing rumors."

Yuuri could feel his stomach drop down to his feet. Honestly, if he looked to Wolfram and then said that, common sense dictated the rumor was probably about Wolfram. Knowing his fan girls and just how Wolfram handled this entire situation, he couldn't help but start panicking in his mind; imagining their yearbook with a picture of him and Wolfram saying "Cutest Couple".

"W-what about?" He stuttered.

"You and Bielefeld. I mean, everybody's been kind of laughing how you and Bielefeld keep that stupid egg in that carrier. 'Cause I mean, wow, Shibuya. Wow. But the girls think it's cute or something, but y'know, _girls_. Anyway, point is, are the rumors true? Are you actually dating him? It's totally fine if you are! Not judging over here. Got a gay aunt. She's awesome and like, my favorite aunt too! "

It's as bad as Yuuri had worried it was and he let out some noise that sounds a lot like a groan but it's too high to be that. Yuuri shook his head and smiled nervously. "Um, no. We're not dating. His fan girls are just really weird." Really, really weird if they have started saying that.

"Oh! Okay! Haha, oh man! I was so confused because dude, I've seen you staring at the girls' track team like the rest of us and I mean, yeah there's bisexual guys but you've never stared at the guys."

They laugh for a couple more moments and then go to practicing. The entire practice, Yuuri thinks about the rumor and worries how far it's already gone. Some of the guys keep looking at him and then at Wolfram then they look away and what the hell does that mean? But thanks to his own worrying, the practice is a bust and he barely manages to gain anything from it.

When it's done, Mr. Weller goes up to him, looking worried. "Yuuri, is something bothering you? You're usually on the ball and this time--"

"I sucked, I know." Yuuri laughed and sighed. "I guess I'm just tired." It wasn't like he could just go and tell Mr. Weller that the entire reason was because there were rumors he was dating his little brother. Like that wouldn't be awkward at all. "I promise I'll be better next practice."

Mr. Weller smiled kindly. "I'm not worried about that at all. Just make sure you go to bed early and get a good night's sleep, okay?"

"Aye, aye captain!" Yuuri jokingly saluted Mr. Weller, who laughed and walked away. Yuuri sighed once more and walked back to the locker room, where Wolfram was waiting near his locker. Yuuri jumped when he saw him there.

"What are you doing in here?! This is the guy's locker room!"

Wolfram set Liesel down and put a hand on his hip in annoyance. "For the love of--yes, I know. In case you haven't noticed, I am a man."

"That's half the problem…" Yuuri muttered as he sat down on a bench.

"What was that?"

"Nothing! Just--"

What happened next kind of shocked Yuuri. Suddenly, Wolfram sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Friendly and in a comforting manner. Yuuri had been half-expecting Wolfram to get irritated with the way he had been acting and tell him to just calm down. It wasn't that Wolfram was mean. Hard to handle and not really the easiest person Yuuri had ever worked with. But he wasn't mean and that wasn't one of the words Yuuri would have ever used to describe him. He really just seemed to be the 'no nonsense!' type. Straight to the point and get it over with kind of person.

"Conrad told me you're a pretty good player and really, I took Liesel out there to see you and so he could be proud of you." Yuuri wasn't even going to bother with the fact Liesel was an egg. That particular fact would never go through Wolfram's head. "Something is bothering you and so I think it's best if you just tell me what and get it off your shoulders."

He removed his hand and waited patiently for Yuuri to tell him, who wasn't even sure if he did feel comfortable telling him. It felt awkward because they were just rumors. Somebody like Wolfram was probably used to them. Yuuri felt kind of like an idiot for letting some stupid gossip bother him. Thinking back on it now, Yuuri was sure that those fan girls of Wolfram probably didn't even say they were dating. They had probably been talking about something else and somebody had misheard them.

"You know, never mind. I think I was just overreacting. See, there's this rumor that we're dating and--"

"That? You were worried over that? Hmph. Here I was worried something serious was going on and you were just worried over that stupid rumor."

"Well, it just surprised me because I never--wait! You're talking like you knew all about the rumor."

Wolfram looked over at him and furrowed his eyebrows. "Of course I heard the rumor. It's about me. The girls that hang around me told me about it and I told them it was a lie. Honestly, acting like a wimp and worrying over stuff like that. What kind of second father does our child have?"

Yuuri gawked at Wolfram, trying to make sense of how he didn't seem affected. "Tell me your secrets! You don't even seem to care."

"That's because I don't. Do you have any idea how many times I've been involved with rumors? Before everybody knew I was gay, somebody saw me with my mother and actually thought I was dating her. Like I'd date somebody that much older than me."

That really was kind of ridiculous. "Wow, I guess I can see why you don't take rumors seriously then," Yuuri said. Now he was glad he'd never been popular enough to have people gossiping about him. That had to be a pain.

"Yes, so don't worry. Besides, when this project is done and we're not around each other anymore, they'll see we aren't dating and probably never were."

It had never hit Yuuri before, but this project wouldn't last forever. Hanging out with Wolfram every day after school, keeping that goofy-faced Liesel around, being called a wimp when he'd done nothing wrong…it would all end one day. Most of it seemed silly to just miss, but he was beginning to get used to Wolfram and actually like him. He wasn't bad at all when he acted normal and didn't seem so uptight. This was the third day of project and it was due in four more days.

He hadn't really expected it and probably had thought it was impossible so soon, but he was beginning to truly consider Wolfram a friend. It'd be kind of depressing to not hang out with him anymore.

----

"You knew about the rumors?!"

Murata laughed over the phone. "Shibuya, everybody has heard the rumors."

"I hadn't! And they were about _me_!"

"You aren't the type to pay attention to people whispering and murmuring things to themselves. You're not cut out to be a snoop."

Yuuri frowned at the phone in his hands. "That doesn't matter. What matters is that I can't believe the school thinks I could be going out with Wolfram! I mean, okay, we're around each other a lot lately and all, but I'm not even gay. I really like girls."

"There's bisexuality," Murata offered. That had been the second time that word had been used today.

"But I've never even thought about guys that way. I don't even look at other guys when I'm changing in the locker rooms. We've taken baths at the public bath, too. I didn't stare at you."

"Maybe that's because you're not interested in me. Or any of those guys."

Murata seemed to have an answer for everything. "Anyway." He didn't want to talk about the possibility of him liking guys. It was kind of uncomfortable. "It just bothered me that they think that. I'm not homophobic, but--"

"You couldn't have the hate in you to ever be homophobic. I think you could find it in you to love somebody who burnt your house down."

Yuuri laughed at that because it was probably true. "I don't know why it bothered me so much. It didn't bother Wolfram. He didn't seem to care."

"He's probably more used to rumors than you. And you were probably bothered by it because people were talking about you and spreading lies. That's normal, so I wouldn't think about it too much.

"Yeah, that's probably it," Yuuri mumbled half-heartedly into the phone. Honestly, he was sure it was more than that. It was kind of annoying to have people saying things that weren't true about him, but that really didn't enter his mind too much. "Oh! Today at dinner, Mom made this meal with eggs, right? I can't remember the name, but you should have seen Wolfram's face! I felt kind of bad for wanting to laugh because he seriously seemed disgusted by eating eggs. Mom kept apologizing for being offensive, even though, you know, nothing offensive about eating egg."

Murata laughed at the story and at the moment, Yuuri decided to just forget about the rumors. They were just rumors anyway.

* * *

**Notes:** Would you believe me if I told you guys that I wanted to update this a while ago but my laptop broke so I couldn't? 'Cause that actually happened. :( In some funny news, I've been writing a lot lately. For a bunch of different fandoms and genres and when I wrote this? Let's just say you guys are lucky I proofread my stories because you almost got severely OOC Yuuri. At one point, I had him talking in a valley girl accent. Let's like, just say that like, Yuuri totally talking like this and wanting to go paint his house totally does not work! Totes OOC. I've read over this story time and time again, but I'm still scared someone will catch a terrifying error. :(


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